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Torn Between Component Types—A New Twist on the Integrated-versus-Separates Debate

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column; Created: 01 July 2025 01 July 2025

I’ve been thinking a lot about Natalie Imbruglia lately—not about her music, but about the sentiment behind her best-known hit, “Torn,” from 1997. The word captures how I’ve been feeling as I reassess what I really want from my hi-fi system. No, I haven’t been feeling emotionally wrecked, lying naked on the floor as the singer laments in the chorus; but I am torn, more than ever before, as I suspect many audiophiles are these days, pulled between two very different sound-system philosophies. Do I want a sleek, full-featured piece of gear that delivers nearly everything I need—amplification, phono EQ, preamplification, streaming, digital-to-analog conversion, and maybe even a tuner—in one elegant chassis, or do I want a modular, flexible suite of separate components that could potentially, though not necessarily, provide better sound?

Dynaudio Confidence 20A Active Loudspeaker System

Details: Written by George de Sa George de Sa; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 July 2025 01 July 2025

Reviewers' Choice Most audiophiles want to assemble their systems themselves, to match components in the hope of maximizing performance. Since a system built around passive loudspeakers requires an amplifier, hi-fi enthusiasts have traditionally favored passive loudspeakers over active models, which have built-in amplifiers.

Recommended Reference Component: Hegel Music Systems D50 Digital-to-Analog Converter

Details: Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors; Category: Components Components; Created: 15 June 2025 15 June 2025

Recommended Reference Component Norway’s Hegel Music Systems has taken what some might see as a step back with its D50, eschewing streaming, digital signal processing (DSP), and preamplifier functionality to produce a bare-bones digital-to-analog converter (DAC) of the highest performance. A “racehorse DAC,” company representatives have dubbed it. Earlier this month, George de Sa wrote most favorably about the D50, concluding his review with the assessment that, for some, the Hegel D50 could be an “endgame DAC.”

Has JBL Reached the Summit? The Ama and Makalu Loudspeakers at High End 2025

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column; Created: 01 June 2025 01 June 2025

During High End 2025 in Munich, Germany, held from May 15 to 18, the renowned American loudspeaker brand JBL unveiled three new additions to its flagship Summit series: Ama, Pumori, and Makalu. The Summit Ama is a two-way standmount speaker, while the other two are three-way floorstanding speakers. The new Summit speakers represent the pinnacle of JBL’s engineering and design, and their names reflect that: Ama Dablam, Pumori, and Makalu are among the most impressive peaks in the Himalayas.

Hegel Music Systems D50 Digital-to-Analog Converter

Details: Written by George de Sa George de Sa; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 June 2025 01 June 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.

Reviewers' Choice With its midnight-black plumage, the raven is a bird that evokes a sense of seriousness. It’s been associated with prophecy and mysticism, and the intelligence of real-world ravens is well documented. In Norse mythology, two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, served Odin by traveling the earth and bringing back knowledge and insight. Tying into this mythology, Norway-based Hegel Music Systems has nicknamed its latest and greatest DAC, the D50 ($4900, CA$5900, £4250, €4895), “the Raven.”

Recommended Reference Component: Bryston Bi-200 Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors; Category: Components Components; Created: 15 May 2025 15 May 2025

Recommended Reference Component The Bryston Bi-200 integrated amplifier is yet another example of the Canadian company’s enduring commitment to high-end, no-nonsense audio engineering. It builds on the extensive development efforts Bryston invested in its BP-19 preamplifier and 3B³ power amplifier by joining these two components into a single chassis. The design goal of the Bi-200 was ambitious: to provide a convenient integrated solution with the sonic strength of separate components. Philip Beaudette’s review of the Bi-200 was published on this site earlier this month.

Ditching the US Dollar as Our Default Review Currency—It’s Going to be Beautiful!

Details: Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider; Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column; Created: 01 May 2025 01 May 2025

For nearly 80 years, the US dollar (currency code USD) has been the cornerstone of global finance. After World War II, the USD became the world’s reserve currency and has since served as the standard currency for international trade. It has become the dominant currency for monetary transactions in global capital and commodity markets. Backed by both the size and strength of the US economy, the US dollar has established itself as stable and reliable and has gained near-universal recognition.

Bryston Bi-200 Integrated Amplifier

Details: Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 01 May 2025 01 May 2025

Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.

Reviewers' Choice If you’ve followed my work on SoundStage! Network, you probably know that I’ve been using Bryston amplifiers for many years—18 to be exact. My hi-fi journey began in 2002 with a Yamaha home-theater receiver. When I realized I would never use four of its six channels, I replaced it with an NAD integrated amplifier. In 2007 I upgraded to a Bryston B100 SST integrated, and in 2013 I purchased the B100’s successor, the B135 SST², which I’ve used ever since. The B135 SST² was succeeded by the B135³ integrated amplifier, which I reviewed in 2021. Although I slightly preferred the sound of the B135³ over that of my B135 SST² and found the new amp to be quieter, the difference was not enough to justify upgrading. Suffice it to say, I’ve become quite familiar with Bryston components.

SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle Loudspeaker

Details: Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette; Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews; Created: 15 April 2025 15 April 2025

Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada’s National Research Council can be found through this link.

Reviewers' Choice When I moved from my one-bedroom apartment in Ottawa, Canada, to a detached house in the suburbs of Toronto several years ago, I was excited by the prospect of having a large unfinished basement where I could set up my stereo system. I figured I’d be able to enjoy bigger sound, which I could crank up from time to time without irritating my neighbors. That first part didn’t go quite as planned. As fellow SoundStager Jason Thorpe once told me, it can be difficult to fill a large room with sound, and that’s exactly what I found.

Recommended Reference Component: EMM Labs DV2i Streaming DAC-Preamplifier

Details: Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors; Category: Components Components; Created: 15 April 2025 15 April 2025

Recommended Reference Component In his April 2025 review on SoundStage! Ultra, Phil Gold discusses the EMM Labs DV2i, a high-end streaming DAC-preamplifier priced at $35,000 (all prices in USD). The DV2i, by integrating network streaming capability with advanced digital-to-analog conversion, marks an evolutionary step from its predecessors, the DV2 and the DV2 V2 (Phil’s reference DAC at the time), which lack this capability.